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AFP
Mali's government is ready to listen to Tuareg concerns but will not accept violence, the foreign minister warned on Tuesday after last week's first major rebel offensive in three years.

"We have no problem with the Tuareg. They are Malian citizens like any other who can have expectations, aspirations and impatience," Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga told journalists on the sidelines of a security meeting in Nouakchott.

"Some groups have demands which they try to make known through violence and with weapons ... all these demands can be expressed without turning to violence.

"The Malian state is ready to listen but it will not accept actions which threaten the country's security and stability. Mali's unity and indivisibilty is guaranteed," Maiga added.

Tuareg rebels, many of whom recently returned from fighting for fallen Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, last week attacked three northern cities in Mali, claiming a fresh offensive three years after the end of a Tuareg rebellion.

The Malian army fought off the attacks and is currently in control in Menaka, Aguelhok and Tessalit.

The Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) formed in late 2011 has taken up the decades-old demand for independence by the desert tribe which has fought rebellions in Mali and Niger in the 1960s, 1990s and early 2000 with a resurgence between 2006 and 2009.

Maiga hinted at an upcoming response to the Tuareg's concerns referring to recent plans by government to "create new regions" and "increase the representation of different northern communities in the institutions" of the country.